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ESR explained free-software licensing in a way that made it appealing to executives and other decision-makers. In 1998, when Netscape released the source code

ESR explained free-software licensing in a way that made it appealing to executives and other decision-makers. In 1998, when Netscape released the source code for its browser on open-source terms, "Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale cited Raymond's 'Cathedral and the Bazaar' essay as a major influence upon the company's decision": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar#cite_note-Williams2011-7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar#c... (The Mozilla Foundation was created to act as the custodian of the source code released by Netscape in 1998.) Although I can certainly understand why people do not like ESR and although he might not have made any significant contributions lately, you cannot deny that in the past he's had a positive profound effect on the industry.

tptacek 3y ago
Alternate take: ESR wrote a very long effortpost at a time when effortposts of any kind were, like, "get an ISBN number for it" novelties, and so found himself in a privileged position with respect to communicating about an open source movement he himself had practically nothing to do with creating. That post doesn't hold up well today (it's most famous claim has become a running joke). If CATB hadn't been written, some other effortpost would have served precisely the same utility, and open source would have continued along the same timeline. Mozilla didn't happen any faster because of ESR --- even if there are Mozilla people who disagree (I don't know that there are).
- dtaht 3y ago
  I strongly disagree that esr´s books are irrelevant. You had to be there, in 1998, I guess, facing the prospect of being fired for working on free software, as many were, or facing down the might of the legal apparatus of microsoft, and admiring his rhetorical skill at facing down the suits, as many did, then. He traveled all over the world, giving many inspirational talks. He books were highly influential on me, and if it were not for his encouragement, and support, there would not be, oh, 10B copies of fq_codel running today, cake, or sqm, or better wifi routers, or libreqos. We had fun, too! http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4162 http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4162 I did learn from his lesson - when he told me I had to be a front man for the bufferbloat effort, in 2013, for at least 5 years - he quoted the original of this: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” at me... and muttered under his breath, "... and then you become a pariah." I learned from his example. So far, by staying on topic, and keeping my political and personal opinions out of any engagement with anyone on the web, and not writing controversial blogs (I know he has at least 3 he regrets)... I have largely escaped being a pariah, but, have also been working on fixing the same darn thing, for 7 years longer than I ever wanted to.
  - microtherion 3y ago
    I found "The Art of Unix Programming" quite instructive and applied some of the advice to my work. I would not consider ESR a Load Bearer by any means, and I dislike what his politics have turned into, but he did have a way with prose.
    - dtaht 3y ago
      I have just taken the time to point out a few things he did more quietly, later in life, with enormous impact.
    - Tao3300 3y ago
      It's an excellent book. I hope he's remembered more for that than for CatB.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    I was there in 1998. In fact, a year prior, I think I briefly had FreeBSD commit privileges†. I stand by what I wrote: if he hadn't found an audience with CATB, someone else would have found an audience with some other effortpost. I'm not writing about his politics. I've written at length here about CATB, on its own merits, with none of the surrounding problematic context of what latter-day ESR became. It's not a good post. What's true about it isn't novel, and what's novel about it isn't true. In particular, "Linus's Law" is --- again --- a running industry joke. † This isn't a Linux vs. FreeBSD thing, I've been a Linux person for going on 15 years now.

tptacek 3y ago

Alternate take: ESR wrote a very long effortpost at a time when effortposts of any kind were, like, "get an ISBN number for it" novelties, and so found himself in a privileged position with respect to communicating about an open source movement he himself had practically nothing to do with creating. That post doesn't hold up well today (it's most famous claim has become a running joke). If CATB hadn't been written, some other effortpost would have served precisely the same utility, and open source would have continued along the same timeline. Mozilla didn't happen any faster because of ESR --- even if there are Mozilla people who disagree (I don't know that there are).

dtaht 3y ago
I strongly disagree that esr´s books are irrelevant. You had to be there, in 1998, I guess, facing the prospect of being fired for working on free software, as many were, or facing down the might of the legal apparatus of microsoft, and admiring his rhetorical skill at facing down the suits, as many did, then. He traveled all over the world, giving many inspirational talks. He books were highly influential on me, and if it were not for his encouragement, and support, there would not be, oh, 10B copies of fq_codel running today, cake, or sqm, or better wifi routers, or libreqos. We had fun, too! http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4162 http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4162 I did learn from his lesson - when he told me I had to be a front man for the bufferbloat effort, in 2013, for at least 5 years - he quoted the original of this: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” at me... and muttered under his breath, "... and then you become a pariah." I learned from his example. So far, by staying on topic, and keeping my political and personal opinions out of any engagement with anyone on the web, and not writing controversial blogs (I know he has at least 3 he regrets)... I have largely escaped being a pariah, but, have also been working on fixing the same darn thing, for 7 years longer than I ever wanted to.
- microtherion 3y ago
  I found "The Art of Unix Programming" quite instructive and applied some of the advice to my work. I would not consider ESR a Load Bearer by any means, and I dislike what his politics have turned into, but he did have a way with prose.
  - dtaht 3y ago
    I have just taken the time to point out a few things he did more quietly, later in life, with enormous impact.
  - Tao3300 3y ago
    It's an excellent book. I hope he's remembered more for that than for CatB.
- tptacek 3y ago
  I was there in 1998. In fact, a year prior, I think I briefly had FreeBSD commit privileges†. I stand by what I wrote: if he hadn't found an audience with CATB, someone else would have found an audience with some other effortpost. I'm not writing about his politics. I've written at length here about CATB, on its own merits, with none of the surrounding problematic context of what latter-day ESR became. It's not a good post. What's true about it isn't novel, and what's novel about it isn't true. In particular, "Linus's Law" is --- again --- a running industry joke. † This isn't a Linux vs. FreeBSD thing, I've been a Linux person for going on 15 years now.